Welcome to your medical home.
Get a once a year annual wellness exam in our central Austin clinic and then video visits and soon to launch secure SMS chat make it easier than ever to get your medical issue resolved.
FAQs for Inspire Membership Service
Effective Date: October 28, 2021
Can I pay my membership fee once a year instead of monthly?
Yes, we added this feature. We offer a low monthly membership option of $16 (or a once a year membership fee of $192.) We want to try our best to keep our membership at the lowest possible price, even lower than some newer and larger groups in Austin. This will allow us to remain independent (even with the lower insurance reimbursements we have been receiving throughout the pandemic as we have been treating patients with COVID), spend extra time with patients when they need it, continue to use technology that is not fully covered by insurance plans and pay staff fair salaries. Austin is growing at a rapid pace. Even with the dozens of calls everyday from people looking for a new primary care provider, we have decided to make our established patients our highest priority and in order to do this we have been slowly increasing our availability and the next step is to improve our digital communication.
When does this start?
It has already started. We plan to introduce secure SMS text messaging for enrolled members. This is going to speed up refill requests and other types of communication. The older Onpatient email platform is “clunky” and does not allow viewing a conversation thread which has made communication difficult, confusing and slow for our team and our patients. Onpatient works well for posting lab results for patients and video visits but, it’s just not a good communication tool.
There is a financial hardship or my finances are just tight. Can I get some help?
Yes. We believe financial hardships shouldn’t prevent patients from receiving high quality medical care. While we accept most major insurance plans, we know that some members may not have access to medical insurance or other resources to pay for necessary primary care. Email us at hello@inspirefh.com to receive easy steps to start the process to find out if you qualify for a cost reduction or waiver.
Is the membership optional?
Yes. You may access medical services from Inspire Family Health without the benefits of the enhanced digital tools and value-added member services, such as secure SMS texting, electronic prescription of controlled substance medications, online scheduling and more. Membership is not a requirement to be a patient at Inspire Family Health. Non-members will need to call to schedule appointments, M-F 7:45 a.m.- 5 p.m. and there is an additional flat $20 fee for 30 day and $60 fee for 90 day controlled substance prescriptions, electronic or paper. These refills can only be managed by providers and take more time to complete.
Dear Patients and Friends,
Effective October 30, 2021
Thank you for trusting us to be an integral part of your healthcare team. In order to better serve you, Inspire Family Health is introducing a monthly membership fee. This will allow Inspire Family Health to remain an independent practice, keep our high quality medical staff and add technology to improve our availability and communication. Just like usual, you will continue to use your regular insurance plan for your visits, labs, and other routine services (or pay the reduced self pay rates) and, we will continue to stay in network with the same major insurance plans. This membership fee will allow us to offer these services that are often not covered by insurance plans:
After-hours and weekend virtual and in-clinic appointments
Electronic prescriptions (get the full benefit, including electronic controlled substances that are usually done on paper triplicate scripts)
Email and text communication and advice without extra charges
Virtual visits (these are billed to your regular insurance plan at the same rates as office visits.)
Longer appointment times
Same or next day availability for sick established patients
Online scheduling
A new SMS platform that will let you text with a member of our team or provider for faster response times for refills, clinical questions, and other needs
Filling out forms for work, school, emotional support animals, and much more (Often a provider will need a visit for longer disability or FMLA forms or if it’s a new form and we need to make sure we get all the details entered correctly.)
Access to Quest Lab Phlebotomist without a crowded lobby
More information about the Inspire Family Health Membership:
$16 per member per month (or $192 per year.) If there is more than one member in your household over the age of 21 there is a 20% discount for each member.
Kids or dependents are free up to and including age 21
All individual student and teacher members qualify for a 20% discount (upload your ID so we can share your discount code)
After the initial 3 month minimum membership, it’s easy to cancel with a 30 day written or email notice.
Our mission is to continuously improve quality care and make this accessible to everyone. For patients in between jobs or facing financial hardship, you will have an option to provide financial documents and apply for assistance. Questions about the membership or if you need to apply for financial assistance, please email: hello@inspirefh.com
Sincerely,
Amy Kowalski, ACNS-BC
Sara Strother, FNP-C
Adriana Guerra, MD
